The Attic's Little Secret
by Midnight1234
Summary: Lucy, Gray, and Loke are forced by their friend Erza to spend their summer vacation in an abandoned mansion stuck in the middle of the woods with nothing around for ten miles. Everything takes a turn for the worst when they find out they aren't the only ones in the mansion when a pink haired boy tries to stab Loke during dinner.
1. Thumps in the Dark

**Hiya! Tis is me, Midnight! And I have decided to make another story instead of update my others. Also, this story won't just be in Loke's prov the whole time, it will switch depending on what is happening that chapter. And for those wondering if there are going to be any pairings in this story, sorry to disappoint you, but no. I don't do that a lot though there will be minor Lucy/Loke in this. Please tell me if I should continue, I will highly appreciate it, so review, favorite, and follow! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Thumps in the Dark**_

Loke rested his head on the smooth pane of the glass window, sighing as he watched the scenery flash by the car, not paying attention to what was in front of him. He averted his gaze to the red mop of hair in the driver's seat diagonal from him, humming to a song on the radio as they got nearer and nearer to their destination.

Erza had decided to drag him, Lucy, and Gray along to this summer vacation house that her parents for some reason bought, then let her take her friends down to it while they had their own vacation somewhere in the Bahamas. Lucky bastards, Loke wanted to go to the Bahamas, but he was forced to go to this house that has been abandoned for fifteen years or so years with no neighbors surrounding the place for at least ten miles. Lovely. The only upside to all of this really was the large lake that was apparently next to the house, but Loke doubted they would even get to swim in it since the weather was chilly. It was summer dammit! The weather should be blistering hot! Not some damn autumn weather! Loke want's a refund.

Loke glanced out the window once more and saw that they were now passing through a forest filled with pine trees that towered high above and obscured the cloudy sky from view. The path soon became gravelly as the road turned into rocks and a large mansion came into view.

The mansion was old but looked to be once beautiful with vines crawling up the walls and intertwining with each other, two large oak trees standing near the porch that had a seat swing with rusting metal bars that bent to make a pretty design. The grass was a dark green and over grown, growing through the cracks on the walkway that reached the house and the rose bushes had grown awfully long and needed a good trimming. The windows were dark with grim and hard to see through, some looking to be boarded off with wood while others loomed with darkness. The door was a large dark wooden oak door with a gargoyle knocker, the paint starting to chip. In the distance a little beside the mansion was a large lake, some of the trees hiding the dark waters from view.

"This is a mansion, Erza, not a house like you said it was." Gray said as he stood a little in his seat beside Loke to try and get a closer view of the large mansion. Erza shrugged as she parked the car.

"It's still a place that shelters people, is it not?" she asked as she opened the car door and got out, followed by Lucy and Gray, then by Loke whose only motivation to get out was the fact that he had been sitting down in the car far more than his butt would like him to.

Loke's eyes seemed transfixed on the house as he got his luggage out from the back and started to walk forward. The mansion seemed far more intimidating then viewed from the car, almost like it had come straight from a horror movie itself. Loke shuddered at that, cursing at himself for even thinking that.

"Hold up!" Erza called as she rushed forward with her mountain of luggage, somehow managing to balance a key in her mouth as she did so. She hopped up the three stone steps leading to the porch, letting go her luggage as she unlocked the door. The others piled in behind her, waiting for her to do so. It only took her a minute for the sound of the lock to click and the door to creak inwards eerily, showing them the darkness that laid inside.

"Alright, this did come straight from a horror movie, great." Loke muttered to himself as he was the last one to file on in, looking around the room to try and see what he could through the darkness that blanketed the rest of the house. Erza closed the door and fiddled for a light, finally managing to find it and turn the switch on.

The crystal chandelier above them flickered a few times before lights remained on, dust heavy in the air. In front of them was a wooden staircase with an old woven red carpet with dull gold designs going up and heading into the darkness with the banister a dark mahogany wood that had designs carved and curvy spindles. Off to the side was a wooden table lent against the flowered wall paper. In the middle was a dark reddish lamp with two candles on both sides. Two pictures were on it, but they were laid face down, dust covering the back in a layer. Leading into a different hallway was the same colored rug on the stairs, seemingly ending in darkness.

"This place gives me the creeps." Lucy muttered to Loke, eyeing their surroundings. Loke nodded his head.

"You aren't the only one that thinks that." he muttered back.

"There are rooms upstairs so I'll let you guys pick them out while I find the kitchen and start putting food in it." Erza said, grabbing three large plastic bags from within the confines of her luggage and carrying it off to find the kitchen. Loke, Lucy, and Gray all shared a hesitant look before they grabbed their own bags and started to ascend the creepy looking stairs, Gray being pushed to the front much to his displeasure.

"Why were we forced to come here again?" Gray asked grumpily as he fiddled for a switch at the top of the stairs, finding it and turning it on, lights lighting up all the way to the end of the hallway. Gray didn't give them time to answer him as he chose the first door on the right and went right in, closing it behind him. Lucy raised an eyebrow slightly at Loke while he just shrugged in responds.

"Hey, it leaves more alone time for us." he said suggestively. Lucy groaned and chose the door on the right, slamming it in Loke's face before he even had the chance in coming in. He chuckled to himself as he stood out in the hallway alone; staring at the door Lucy had just gone through, then making his way to the end of the hallway were he found the second to last door and entering, closing the door behind him.

In the middle of the room was a king size bed with a blue and green knitted quilt along with what seemed to be a billion pillows. In one corner of the room was a bluish plush armchair with a round end table next to it, a candle sitting upon it with an old worn out looking leather journal. On the wall with the door was a tall dresser with built in mirror and a large circle green knitted rug taking up the space between the end of the bed and dresser.

He walked to where the bed was and dumped his stuff on it, his attention turning to the leather journal on the end table near the arm chair. Just like everything in this house, the journal was covering in layers of dust, making the leather look lighter than what it was. Interested on what was inside, walking over and taking the rough material in his hands. Tossing it a little, Loke blew to get the dust away, a cloud of it floating in front of him and making him sneeze until he batted it away from his nose. Once the dust was no longer assaulting his nose, he unclasped the buckle of the journal and flipped to the front page.

'_June 12__th__, 1998_

_I have found the perfect specimen to start the experiment I have so desired to start. I have never found anything as suitable as him, even though he is just a babe, but still, he's just perfect, but soon he will be far more than perfect. He will exceed my expectations, I just know it. There's no doubt in my mind. _

_Well, I must go for I have to start the experiment, though I know the real experimenting won't be till later years._

_-Zeref'_

Loke furrowed his eyebrows at what he just read, but didn't have much time to ponder it as Erza called him and the others down, wishing for some help. Hesitantly, he set the journal back down on the end table and exited his room, casting one last longing eye towards it before he continued down the hallway. He will read more of the journal later, for now he better get down before Erza punishes him for coming too late.

He was soon in the kitchen with Gray and Lucy while Erza stood in front of them, putting some cans in the cabinets.

"We are missing some things so while me and Lucy go to the store, I want you two—" she looked pointedly at both Loke and Gray. "—to finish putting the food in the cabinets and fridge, then clean the kitchen then the whole house. The cleaning supplies are in the trash bag labeled cleaning, and once you are done with that, put them under the sink, understand?" she gave them a sharp look for which they gulped slightly in fear at before they saluted as if they were in the military and she was their general. Erza smiled sweetly as she finished putting the cans up, looked at Lucy and grabbed her car keys from where they were on the counter. "Let's go." And with that, both girls left. Once they heard Erza's car leaving, Gray and Loke let out a breath of relief, before they shared a look.

"She's going to be the end of us one day." Gray mumbled, going over to a trash bag and starting to sort the food on the counter before he set them in the cabinets, Loke doing the same with the other.

"She's going to be the end of everyone one day." Loke corrected, Gray nodding as he chuckled a little.

"True, true." he replied in amusement.

The two of them worked in silence, organizing the food until they heard a loud thump on the floor above, the light shaking a little and the cans in the cabinet shivering. Gray and Loke snapped their heads to the other, sharing a look with eyes that read confusion and some hint of panic.

"Gray," Loke started out a bit slowly, hand freezing from where he was putting up a bag of chips, Gray's hand freezing with a jar of peanut butter. "Please tell me you heard what I've heard." he asked, his voice trembling a little. Gray gave a tiny nod, setting the peanut butter on the counter as they turned to face each other.

"We're not going crazy, are we?" Gray asked even though there was a hopeful tone in his voice. Loke shaking his head a bit.

"I rather us go crazy than for that sound to be real when we are the only ones here." he said. "This is how every horror movie starts. With the thump in the old abandoned mansion with teenagers there for the summer." Loke whispered fearfully, eyes going to stare at the ceiling above him as if afraid that another thump was going to follow.

"Loke, shut up before I shove this peanut butter down your throat. It's probably nothing anyway. It could be the wind." Gray tried to reason, turning back to do his work. Loke didn't look convinced by this as he took a step closer to his raven haired friend.

"I don't think so…" he said cautiously. Gray opened his mouth to say something else when they heard another thump, Gray's voice dying in his throat. But this time the thump wasn't above them. It sounded to be in the living room which just happened to be right next to the kitchen. And what made it worst, the lights were off in the living room so they could see nothing. Gray whirled around, grabbing the nearest weapon he had which just so happened to be a loaf of bread, but he didn't seem to mind while Loke just stared into the darkness that was the living room, trying his hardest to see any shape or form beyond it, but all he could see were the darkened shapes of the furniture that occupied it.

They stayed still for what seemed like hours, trying their hardest to hear any other noise that could alert them to their intruder, but none came. Finally, Loke had gathered the guts to go over to where the light switch was for the living room, turning it on. Like the entre hallway, the large crystal-like chandelier flicked on and off for about a minute before it remained on, shining its golden light on the dusty furniture below.

No intruder was there, the only thing out of place was one of the end table beside an orange and red plush chair lying on its side, a candle broken in half on the ground.

Gray and Loke shared a look with each other before they turned around silently and began to work once more, tensed as they waited to hear another noise that might alert them to whatever caused the end table to fall on its side. They couldn't wait till Erza and Lucy got home, at least Erza would kill the intruder if she found them.


	2. Natsu-chan

**Hiya! Yes, yes, I know it has been a month since I have updated the first chapter and I apologize for that, so here you are with the second one and I do hope you enjoy! Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Natsu-chan**_

Gray and Loke didn't speak of their experience with the thumps in the house they had heard earlier when Erza and Lucy came back carrying a few bags in each hand. They even acted normal all throughout dinner without speaking about earlier and keeping it to the back of their minds. It worked out well since the two had soon forgotten about their experiences and enjoyed the time they spent with their two other friends during dinner.

"So what are we going to go do tomorrow?" Lucy asked curiously as she took a bite out of the pizza they had cooked earlier, eyes darting around the table and at the other three who looked at Erza for the answer. Erza shrugged, reaching to grab another slice from the already half eaten pizza.

"I was thinking we could go down to the lake around noon and stay there till four, come back and make a fire to roast some s'mores." she suggested, looking around the table for the opinion of the others.

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Gray said with a smile, leaning on the back legs of his chair, stuffing the rest of his pizza in his mouth and took a swing of coke. Erza glared at the teen when he slammed his glass back down on the table, the sticky drink spilling over the sides and creating a little ring around the glass.

"I like it since it'll give me a clear view of Lucy in a bikini." Loke said casually giving Lucy a seductive wink only for the blonde haired girl to grow red in the face as she glared harshly at Loke.

"Then I'll have to make sure I swim with a tee-shirt and shorts on only." she threatened. Loke turned pale at the threat, the pizza in his hands falling down on his plate with a soft 'plop'.

"No! Your body is too gorgeous to be hidden Lucy-chan!" he wailed with fake tears streaming down his face. Lucy crossed her arms and turned her head away from him with a 'humph'.

"I don't want to defile my body with your eyes on it." she shot back annoyed. Loke whimpered in defeat, head slumping on the table as he began to mutter incoherent words to himself while the fake tears still streamed down his face. Lucy smiled in victory, sticking her tongue out childishly at Loke who whimpered even louder.

"Pathetic," Gray snorted in amusement, Loke instantly snapping back to life with a tick mark making itself known on his forehead.

"What did you say?" he growled out in annoyance. Gray smirked, chuckling at his friend.

"I said—" he started, only to be cut off by Lucy's shriek of horror as a large butcher knife came out of seemingly nowhere, aiming itself right at Loke who dodge quickly out of the way, falling out of his chair. Everyone jumped up while Loke scrambled to his feet, Gray and him running to the other side of the table where Lucy and Erza stood in surprise.

A boy no older than the age of fifteen stood there. He was deathly pale with what looked to be a hospital gown hanging on his skinny frame, and a shock of pink spiky hair, but the most defined feature of the boy wasn't the pink hair or deathly pale skin, it was the two different eye colors the glinted in the light of the chandelier above the table. His left eye was a charcoal black while his right eye was a forest green color.

"W-who are you?!" Erza demanded, overcoming her shock as she glared at the intruder in anger. The boy tilted his head to the side, pulling the butcher knife out with two hard tugs. "Answer me!" she shrieked to the boy who just blinked calmly.

"_Why… here…?_" the boy asked, his speech choppy and his voice hoarse and raspy. He climbed onto the table while the four of them backing up to the point where their backs were pressed against the wall. "_Never… seen…_" his voice held a tone of a crazed person as he tilted his head further to the side, his eyes becoming larger and crazier. "_Natsu-chan… hungry…_" He lunged at the four with the knife held ready in his hand, only missing them by a fraction of a second as they screeched in terror and ran from the room only for the boy to follow.

"Who is this guy?!" Gray asked when the pinkette suddenly blocked their exit of the front door, the only way for them to go being up the stairs.

"I don't know but I knew that this would be some type of horror movie!" Loke screeched as they ran upstairs, flying pass all the rooms until they reached his, slamming the door shut and locking it with the safety of the dresser being pressed against it.

"Did—did he say he was hungry?" Lucy panted as she sat herself down on the bed, trying to catch her breath. She held a hand over her heart as if to stop its beating, looking at the others for confirmation. "Cause if he did, I sure don't want to be his next meal." she said while the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey, look at this." Gray said suddenly, catching their attention as they all looked up. He had walked over to the end table Loke had been at before dinner and was now holding the same journal he had been reading earlier in his hands, open.

"Gray, I don't think it's time to be reading diaries." Lucy scolded, standing up to stand next to her scarlet haired friend for some security.

"She's right, we have to call the police and inform them of the intruder." Erza agreed. Gray rolled his eyes at them and shook his head.

"Not that," he sighed. "I think this journal belonged to the person who owned the house before." he cleared his voice before he went on. "_'June 30, 2000. The specimen that I have named Natsu-chan is coming along very well. His eyes used to be a nice shade of green, but with the help of the medicines I have been giving him; his left eye is slowly changing into a charcoal color, though a few hints of green are still showing through. He has even started to pick up on speech and his strength seems to be growing by the day. By now he has the strength of a ten-year-old and in a few years if his medicine still works, he will be stronger than a grown man. But that's not the most interesting thing Natsu-chan has shown in his progress of being my experiment. When I first found him he had a nice shade of ginger hair, but like his left eye, it began to change colors until it has reached the color of pink. It's going along nicely and I just can't wait until I can see him fully developed, but that won't be for a while. Oh, it looks like Natsu-chan has gotten out of the attic again, it's time to put him back, so until next time. –Zeref.'_" Gray read aloud. He flipped a few more pages and began reading the next entry aloud.

"' _August 6__th__, 2000. Natsu-chan has developed a strange liking to sharp objects the longer I observe him, especially with knifes. Not what I wished, but I can work around it. He has also found something that he seems to love to say all the time, "Natsu-chan, hungry, hungry! Natsu-chan very hungry!" In one day alone he has said this, as recorded, fifty times. During those times I would proceed with getting Natsu-chan his usual meal. Before this, he would only be able to eat three times a day before he was satisfied. I have done some tests on some of the things I have given him and found out this was just a little side effect. If this continues Natsu-chan will be able to eat more than a human could even handle within a week, or more. I shall await the outcome with impatience. –Zeref.'_" Gray flipped to the last entry in the journal and read that.

"'_Natsu-chan has reached the age of five and has experienced such drastic changes since I first took him in. His speech his not up to pare and I don't think it ever will be, but his food income is... it's shocking. He can take into a months of an average humans intake of food in just one day. His eyes remain the same two colors as when they first changed though, and his strength is on par with a wrestling champion, his intelligence even exceeding above average to the point where I have to keep him locked up every night in different ways. The only thing that has gone wrong within these five years is Natsu-chan's love for sharp objects and stabbing anything he could. So far, I have been stabbed with a needle, pen, plastic knife, butter knife, broken glass, and a piece of broken of metal he had somehow found. Every single time he had stabbed me or something within his reach, he would giggle and shout, "Natsu-chan end, end! Natsu-chan hungry!" It worries me some too, but I have no way of knowing how to put a stop to—'_" Gray paused, the others looking up.

"What's wrong?" Loke asked curiously as he walked over to his friend, followed by Lucy and Erza. Gray slowly looked up and showed them the page. It ended right where Gray had paused, old blood stains covering the paper and smearing some of the words together. All four shared a glance, ones filled with worry and fear. Right below it though, they noticed in big childish letters that creeped them out, were: "_Natsu-chan full!_"

"So… that guy down there is not just some crazy guy but apparently a psychopath who has been tested on?" Lucy asked, brown eyes giving the door with the dresser pressed against it a look of worry.

"And by the looks of it, he even killed this Zeref person when he was only five." Loke added as Gray closed the journal and set it aside.

"This is just messed up no matter how you look at it." Gray said with a shake of his head. "First some guy abducts a random child, keeping them locked up in the attic and testing on them with only God knows what, but the child also being a deranged psychopath since he was five. I can't tell what's even more messed up! The fact that some guy tested on a child or that child killing when he was five!" he threw his hands up in the air with wild gestures before he fell back into the plush armchair behind him, sinking down in it and setting his chin atop his chest.

"Even though I agree with Gray, that's the least of our worries. We have to concern ourselves with escaping this place without getting some pink deranged kid trying to stick a knife through us." Erza pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at her three friends who looked at her with agreement.

"But how? All we have is—" Lucy looked around the room to see two lamps, and a stack of pillows. Nothing worth fighting with. "—lamps. That is all we really have that could do really any damage, but we have two and when we are out, we once again have a lunatic on our hands." she deadpanned, looking back at the group who deflated with the thought.

"We could always climb out of the window and get some help?" Loke suggested, Erza giving him a slight glare.

"And risking breaking our legs in the process? Hell no, we have to think of some oth—" she was cut off as the door to the room started to rattle violently, making everyone in the room whirl around, Gray jumping up from the chair, startled. They all held their breaths as they waited for the rattling to stop, their hearts in their throats. They jumped once more when the rattle had stopped only to be replaced with a knife through the door. It was pulled out then started to repeatedly stab at the door until a pale hand gripped a loose part of wood and tore it from the door, throwing it to the side. A crazed charcoal eye immediately replacing the torn of wood, searching the room franticly until it landed on the four who stared in horror.

"_Natsu-chan… hungry… very hungry…_"


	3. Reversal Effects

**Hiya! So for another long wait, I seem to say that a lot now-n-days but it takes forever for me to update because of my procrastination, so sorry. To tell you the truth I had no idea what to put in this chapter so I was like screw it, I'll do whatever what pops up in my mind even if it's moving on a bit too fast and it probably makes no since, I don't care. I'm not proud with the chapter and how it's written, I just wanted to get this updated as fast as possible before I start to procrastinate again. Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Reversal Effects**_

**"**_**Natsu-chan… hungry… very hungry…**_**"**

Lucy let out an ear piecing screech as he suddenly put his hand halfway through the hole and gripped the jagged wood, his other hand doing the same as he tugged a few times, the sound of wood splintering greeting their ears as they rushed around the room either looking for a weapon, a place to hide, or a way out. The only thing they found though were objects they thought they could use as weapons. Gray held a wooden chair, Loke a nightstand, Erza two lamps, and Lucy had somehow found an old flashlight in one of the drawers. When the deranged pinkette had finally made a large enough hole in the door above the dresser he began to climb through, all the while with his eyes set on the teens who shook with fear at the prospect that they might die and no one would ever know.

"_Hungry… so very hungry…" _he kept on saying as he jumped down from on top of the dresser, landing on all fours. He slowly made his way towards them on his hands and knees, the four backing up closer to the wall and their hearts threatened to burst out of their rib cage. Suddenly when they thought that it was going to be the end of them, a song started to play and Lucy's pocket began to vibrate. The pinkette stopped, the deranged look in his eyes turning to confusion as his eyebrows knitted together and he sniffed the air while looking around the room, trying to pinpoint where the sound came from.

"Quick, Lucy, your phone!" Loke muttered from the corner of his mouth over his shoulder to where the blonde was hiding behind him. With shaking hands she fumbled for the pink cell in her pocket and handed it over to Loke. The ginger took it slowly so he didn't catch the teen's attention who was currently searching all over the room for the source of the noise. He tossed it gently so it landed on the bed with a soft plop. They watched with bated breath as the pinkette froze and looked towards the bed, standing up clumsily on two feet and stumbling towards it. The three took that as their chance and fled the room, Loke and Gray flinging the dresser down from the door and prying it open, letting the girls through first. The deranged teen saw this and instantly ran after him, somehow once again trapping them from going downstairs. Gray looked around wildly until he saw a thin door in front of the bedroom they just ran out of and saw that it was different from the others and looked far sturdier, looking to be made out of thicker wood.

"There!" he shouted, pointing to it. The other three saw it and ran towards it with the teen hot on their heels. Being the last one, Loke slammed the door behind him and saw that he could lock it, so he did.

"Um, you know how in horror movies the worse thing to do is go upstairs? Yeah, well we seemed to keep going upstairs so our chance of survival is now slim." Gray said, making Loke look back and see that there were stairs leading up to what he guessed was the attic.

"Wait, no this is perfect!" Lucy suddenly squealed as she started to run up them, getting dumbfounded looks from her friends. "In the journal, Zeref mentioned that Natsu-chan was kept in the attic and that's probably where he kept all of his medicine and the like! We can probably find a sedate of some kind and inject it into him!" she explained happily over the pounding of the door.

"You're right!" Erza agreed. "Come on, we have to hurry!" with this they raced up the stairs and almost froze at the sight. In one corner of the dusty attic a small dog cage sat with the door slightly ajar, the lock on it broken and lying beside it. The only window in the attic was boarded up with some type of metal. A small metal table laid on the opposite wall from the small dog table with wheels. Stuff the four could not identify was also scattered across the room along with a small file cabinet that had a medicine label tapped to it. Without needing to have a second thought about it, they rushed over to the small file cabinet and searched through the drawers either finding empty needles, or a little note of having to make more. They felt their hope deflate a little when they reached the last drawer, opening it up only to see that it had one needle and a little note to it. Erza was the one to pick both up and read the note aloud to the others.

"'_To use in dire emergencies! With one drop of what's inside, Natsu-chan will revert to a regular child and all that I've given him would be erased from his system. Be careful during use and make sure to use it when absolutely needed._' Well, I can't find a more better time than to use it now." Erza muttered the last part under her breath. She then turned around and stood up straight, dropping the small note to the ground as she held the needle tightly in her hand. "We need someone who is fast to inject this into him, and I know it's not me." Erza said, looking around at her other three friends.

"I'll just freeze up in fear before I even reach him." Lucy said truthfully.

"I'm far too clumsy." Loke admitted, everyone now looking at Gray who sighed ruefully.

"I'm kinda happy that I'm the one in track and can run faster than you guys, but at the moment I kinda regret ever signing up." he said, more to himself than his friends. Erza thrust the needle towards him just as the pounding on the door got louder and they heard the wood starting to splinter.

"Better hurry up and get ready, looks like that door won't hold him up much longer." she told him. Gray nodded as he went to where the wall was that separated the stairs from the rest of the room, pressing his back against it with the needle ready in his sweaty hands. Lucy, Loke, and Erza both found a hiding spot under a table not far away and watched Gray with worry in their eyes, all hoping that this would end just like they've planned.

After a few moments of just their soft breathing filling the room, they heard the door finally give and the deranged teen's footsteps on the stairs. When he reached the top he paused and looked around, giving Gray the perfect chance to plunge the needle into his shoulder and injecting the medicine into his blood stream. Gray took a step back and watched with wide eyes as the pink haired teen gave one howl of pain before he fell limp to the floor, ragged breathes escaping him as his face screwed up in pain.

Erza, Loke, and Lucy crawled out from under the table and walked slowly to where the pinkette laid on the ground passed out and in pain while Gray stood a little back.

"He's not dying, is he?" Lucy asked as she peered over him.

"He's breathing fine… I think. I'm no doctor but even if he's breathing a little ragged, he is still taking in oxygen." Loke commented with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"What should we do in the meantime? What if the medicine doesn't work?" Lucy started to fret, fear lacing her eyes once more. Erza shook her head lightly, eyes never moving from the figure on the floor as she studied him to see if she could catch any changes happening.

"There's only one way to find out and that's to wait until he wakes up." the red had said with a slight sigh in her tone. Loke was about to bend down to sling the pinkette over his shoulder when then teen opened his eyes and blinked. He pushed himself off the ground until he was sitting down. The four couldn't see anything physically different from the teen since he still had pink hair and two different eye colors; they just hoped it was just his physical appearance that didn't change.

"Natsu, is it?" Erza tried, catching the teen's attention. Natsu slowly looked up and when he saw Erza fully, his eyes started to water and his lip started to wobble, hands up and ready to rub the tears away when needed.

"Natsu-chan scared…" he whimpered suddenly, hiccupping as he started to rub at his eyes when the tears started to fall rapidly.


	4. Thoughts and Plans, Confusion Is Where W

**Hiya! Okay, I'm going to explain something to you guys before you read this lovely chapter I'm giving to you so you won't be a bit confused if you do get confused! About Natsu's intelligence, yes he was extremely smart thanks for the invented drugs Zeref experimented on him with (Yeah, a real thanks to you Zeref -.-) and well, the thing is even though the drugs made him brilliant and everything, his mind was still in a developing stage so he didn't exactly know what he was doing. He just did things thinking they were just normal everyday life things and thought nothing of the like. But because of that intelligence his mind kinda paused, so to say, in this childlike state though his actions and everything outward suggested he wasn't one. It was more of a brain problem so everything he saw is what a small child would see but more in his perspective with the drugs influencing him too. So when he has taken the reversal effects drug his mind kinda expressing the small child he is on the inside cause his brain had never really developed and all but some of that intelligence has remained. Hope I cleared up that part cause it kinda made sense to me but might not for you. And another thing for when you read the last part of the chapter: I will remind you, this is a no romance story cause I'm not really one for romance, but will do it sometimes, so just to clear that up this is no NaLu nor NaZa story. Nor will this be. Okay, thanks, enjoy! Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Thoughts and Plans, Confusion Is Where We Meet**_

**"**_**Natsu-chan scared…"**_

After a few minutes of hiccupping and crying from the pink haired teen sitting on the ground, they had finally managed to calm the crying Natsu and bring him down to Gray's room since it was the second room close to where the attic's stairway was and it wasn't destroyed like Loke's room. They got him changed out of the filthy hospital gown and into some of Gray's clothes that were a bit too baggy, the dark blue sweatshirt hiding his hands and the shorts being held by a belt and on the fourth to last hole on the belt.

He sat there sniffling on the bed, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand as his multicolored eyes glanced at the four standing in front of him cautiously and full of fear. Gently as to not scare the once demented teen, Erza crouched down in front of him and smiled sweetly.

"Natsu-chan," she started, catching his attention as he brought down his hand to look at her more properly. "can you please tell us what you remembered?" she asked. Natsu's bottom lip started to wobble again as if he was about to cry once more, but it slowly stopped as Natsu seemed to calm himself down.

"Everything is in confusing parts…" he said quietly, almost like a small child who witnessed something horrible. "First there was a man with black hair who poked me with sharp stuff… Then I'm alone and the man isn't there anymore. Everything gets older and older and it's harder to find food and it's lonely. Everything creeks and the shadows seem big and scary. Then four people come. They scared me, they screamed, too, every time I got near them. I was so confused. Then there's pain all around… everything hurts! I couldn't see straight it burned… burned…! Burned!" Natsu whimpered, bringing his legs up on the bed to his chest as he clutched at his hair with his eyes screwed tight and tears streaming down his face. Erza softly put a supporting hand on his knee which he flinched away from, but she left it there as he slowly started to calm down.

"It's okay, nothing's going to hurt you anymore." she said. Natsu nodded his head, still in his tense position and hiccupping uncontrollably.

"Natsu-chan doesn't like pain! Natsu-chan remembers the man and when Natsu-chan remembers the man Natsu-chan remembers the pain!" he hiccupped, making himself seem smaller as he curled in on himself.

Erza started to say comforting things to Natsu that slowly calmed him down, and when he finally stopped crying, he had fallen asleep. Erza stood up with one last glance at Natsu and looked towards Loke who was standing awkwardly in the middle of Gray and Lucy, all three of them looking as if they didn't know what to do.

"Loke, bring Natsu into one of the other two free rooms and come and meet us downstairs in the living room." she ordered, Loke giving her a quick nod as he went towards the tear stained faced Natsu, picking him up and walking to one of the mentioned rooms. Erza jerked her head towards the door to Lucy and Gray. "Come," she said, leading the other two down to the living room where they each found a place to sit and sat there waiting for Loke to come down, in silence. When Loke finally came down and found a place next to Gray on the couch, Lucy was the first to speak.

"What do we do?" she asked, her voice sounding very loud in the silent house. Outside crickets chirped indicating that it was now late at night, an owl hooting somewhere in the distance, but at the moment, all of that was far away for the four had different things on their minds than chirping crickets and hooting owls.

"I don't know." Erza replied, voice sounding just as lost as Lucy and just as loud even though she talked in a quite tone. "But I kinda feel sorry for Natsu." she said truthfully.

"You kinda have to after what he just told us." Gray piped up, glancing quickly towards Erza than back to where he was staring at his knees. He went on. "I mean, even though he was pretty demented and all that, he didn't choose to be that way. He was just some kid kidnapped for a crazy jerk ass scientist who wanted to experiment on him as a baby. He was molded to be something that wasn't him, he even killed this Zeref person, and by the sound of it, he didn't even know what he was doing, who would? He was, like, what? Five? Not even that he spent ten years alone and when alone, someone can go crazy." Gray said, everyone nodding quietly in agreement.

"He's just a small kid who never got to grow up." Loke added on, everyone feeling the subject getting far more depressing than what it originally was.

"I hate people like Zeref." Erza suddenly spoke up with venom laced heavily in her voice. "He had no right to kidnap Natsu, he had no damn right! He screwed up his future and for what fucking cost? Nothing! We don't even know Natsu's real name and if we try to do some damn blood test to find any living relatives, we probably won't since Zeref messed with his genes and everything!" she was getting so frustrated with each word she spoke that her hands clenched painfully on her knees and her shoulders were so tensed they almost reached to her ears. She felt her anger reaching new heights and took a deep breath to calm herself, relaxing her shoulders and uncurling her hands. "What are we going to do?" she suddenly asked in a defeated voice, sounding much older than her own age, eyes closed.

"Huh?" Lucy looked up confused, delicate blond eyebrows pinched together on her forehead as she tried to grasp at what Erza was trying to say. "What do you mean?" Erza opened her eyes and looked at her blond friend, finally feeling the last of her anger dwindling away.

"After this trip is over, where is Natsu going to go? No orphanages are going to accept him cause he's far too old, foster care can sometimes be bad to be put into, he has no relatives that we know of, what are we going to do?" she said, looking lost as she looked at her three friends in front of her.

"He can stay here." Loke said, making everyone confused as they switched their gazes to him. He scratched the back of his neck feeling a little nervous as he was suddenly put on the spot light. "Well, we can tell your parents about him, can we not?" he asked, looking towards Erza. "Your parent's are pretty chill and can understand easily, so all we have to do is call them, get someone nearest to this place to check up on Natsu every now and then, make sure he's fed and clothed, and he can just stay here." Loke suggested. Gray shook his head at this plan, disagreeing with Loke.

"Everything does sound nice in that plan of yours Loke, but if you remember one thing, Natsu was alone for ten years and had no human contact. It must've been miserable being alone and not talking to anyone. Even if we find someone near here they are not about to come out here every day to just talk to him, because visits every now-n-then won't be enough human and social contact. Natsu needs to be somewhere where he can interact with someone on a daily basis, like a school. We can't just leave him here. That's like treating him like the experiment he was." Gray said. Lucy nodded, agreeing with this plan.

"Gray's right." she said, looking up with a determined look. "We can't just leave him hear alone, but what we can do is let him live with me."


	5. Live With Me!

**Hiya! Yes, I apologize for the very long update but I have been very busy lately (more like whenever I had the chance to write a chapter I'd do something else sound more like it) and had a small writers block. Sorry for the short chapter, but I only really wanted to have one scene in here since I'm not too fond of making two and the scene itself wasn't supposed to be that long anyway. Again, sorry for the late update, I'm going to try harder next time to update this earlier (of course once my other stories have been updated.) Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Live With Me!**_

_**"We can't just leave him hear alone, but what we can do is let him live with me." **_

"What do you mean?" Erza looked straight at her with confusion lacing her features, pushing a strand of scarlet hair behind her ear.

"Since we can't leave him here like Gray said, he can live with me." Lucy explained once more, thinking she got her point across to them.

"I don't follow." Loke said with a shake of his head. Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes a bit.

"I live alone, right? Well, I've got a guess bedroom in my apartment that he could stay in and it'll be nice having someone else there to keep me company, it'll just be like having a little brother!" she explained happily. Erza, Gray, and Loke looked at each other as they thought about it before turning towards Lucy who was already fantasying what she and her new "little brother" were going to do when they go back home.

"It is the best suggestion, but are you sure you'll be able to support both you and him?" Erza asked, Lucy's fantasy breaking like glass as she was suddenly slumped over with a dark cloud over her head.

"I'll have to work extra hours…" she said somberly, her friends' sweetdropping at the suddenly mood change coming from the blonde.

"I'm sure we can help out…" Loke tried to reassure, but it didn't work out as Lucy was still calculating the cost in her head and how much food she would probably have to spend a month, plus the clothing she would have to give him. The prices kept getting higher and higher in her head making the depressing cloud hanging over her get even far more depressing.

Everyone except for Lucy looked up towards the sound of soft feet walking towards them. Cautiously and like a small child, Natsu peered around the corner with wide eyes only to step back a bit as if to hide himself when he saw the three looking at him and the depressed Lucy.

"I see you're awake." Erza said kindly, putting on her sweet smile as she waved the pink haired teen over who watched her movements closely. "Would you like to join us?" she added when she saw that he didn't make a move towards the open seat next to Gray. Slowly, almost too slow, Natsu moved forward but kept a cautious eye on the four of them until he was seated on the couch and squished as far as he could against the armrest. Natsu fiddled with his thumbs nervously as he also bit his lip, his mismatched eyes zooming to everyone in the room like a hummingbird.

"So, Natsu," Erza started, leaning a forward as she placed both her forearms on her knees. Natsu shrank backwards into the couch, thinking that she was far too close to his comfort. "I wanna ask you a few things, do you mind?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Natsu shyly shook his head. "Okay, first do you hate living here by yourself?" She waited patiently for him to answer, which took a few moments.

"I hate it… scary noises come when it's dark, I get really lonely when it's light, I get really cold when everything's white, and I'm always hungry…" he answered softly, moving his gaze to his lap, then deciding that it wasn't safe yet to do it, the mismatched eyes went to Erza again. Erza nodded, acting like she understood completely when in fact, she really didn't understand.

"Alright, I understand that. Then since you don't like it here, how 'bout you live with our friend Lucy here." Upon hearing her name Lucy looked up with the depressing cloud instantly disappearing, blinking her brown eyes at Erza in confusion before realization dawned on her when she caught sight of the timid Natsu, nodding her head as she suddenly smiled brightly.

"It'll be so much fun living together, we'll be like a family!" she said happily, forgetting about all the cost she had calculated in her head just seconds ago. "We'll do so much fun stuff that you'll never be bored! But you will be alone when I have to go to school, and I guess I can have you come to work with me, maybe you'll even get to help out!" she added, Natsu blinking at her owlishly as it took him a minute to process what she just said.

"I-I don't know what to think…" Natsu said truthfully, feeling a bit conflicted with his emotions. He was excited by the fact that he was going to finally leave the house that he has never left and he was scared all the same. He didn't know how he'll do with change, he didn't know what would happen since he didn't really actually think that there was another world outside from what he seen through the grimy windows, just thinking about it made him curious and afraid. What would he see? How many people would be there? Would it be dark or bright? He didn't know.

"It's alright; you have some time to think about it since we'll be staying here for two weeks." Erza said, catching his attention, Natsu's head snapping up to look at her. He felt his shoulders relax at that, relieved that he wasn't being forced into something he still didn't know about far too soon before he actually figured out what was going to happen fully.

"In the meantime, I think we should be getting to bed seeing as it's almost 2 A.M." Gray piped up, standing up and stretching his arms way above his head and yawning, his eyes closing as he did. Natsu watched with wide owl-like eyes as the others proceeded to stand up and agree with the raven haired teen. He watched their movements as they started to leave, Loke being the first one to notice that Natsu hadn't at all gotten up from his squeezed in position on the couch.

"Aren't you tired?" Loke asked curiously, the others stopping in their movements to turn around a look. Natsu shrunk at the sudden looks, his skin itching since he wasn't used to this many people at once, plus them all looking at him made him feel even more uncomfortable than just their presences.

"I-I'm fine…" he mumbled, voice barely audible. Loke looked behind him to see Erza giving him a nod of the head, telling him silently to let him be since she didn't want Natsu to feel suffocated by their presence.

"Alright, see you in the morning." Loke bid his farewell as they exited the room and went upstairs, Loke having to go to the second guest room since his room was trashed from the earlier events.

Downstairs, still sitting on the couch, Natsu relaxed fully from his tight and squeezed in position, drawing up his knees to his chest as he buried his head in-between the space of his knees and chest.

"Natsu-chan confused…" his voice whispered like a small child would, barely there but at the same time loud as it echoed in the room. Outside the owl hooted once before it went silent and flew off, the night becoming an eerily with the silence that coated it like a thick layer of paint.


	6. Curious Multicolored Eyes

**Hiya! So my computer recently had acted it up not letting me turn it on so it need to be fixed and my procrastination is also part of the reason, but right now I'm trying my best to catch up with all my stories so please bear with me! Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Curious Multicolored Eyes**_

Gray scratched the back of his head as he tried to force down a yawn to no prevail while he entered the kitchen. He barely noticed Erza making breakfast in his still half asleep mind as he took a seat at the small table the kitchen supplied next to Lucy and Loke. Without so much as a grunt, he buried his head into his folded up arms on the cool wooden surface of the small wooden table, the sound of sizzling eggs lulling him to doze.

"Gee, someone looked like they didn't even wake up this morning. Must be sleepwalking." Loke teased as he took a drink from his orange juice, watching Gray with amusement.

"Shut up." Gray moaned as he rose slowly into a hunched position and blinked a few times to unsuccessfully rid the sleep from his eyes. He blinked at Loke once more before he looked around the kitchen to see that someone was missing. "Hmm… Where's that Natsu kid?" he asked groggily as he looked back at Loke who shrugged and drunk from his orange juice once more.

"He caught sight of my cellphone earlier this morning so I gave it to him and he ran off to the sitting room." Erza said as she scrapped off some eggs in the pan on the plate in front of Lucy before going back to the stove to cook Loke's eggs.

"It explains why he was so confused when he heard my ringtone last night." Lucy commented with a hum as she started to eat her eggs, her brown eyes shifting to where the sitting room was located, on the opposite hall from the living room and dining room.

"Poor kid probably doesn't even know the great invention of a television." Loke sighed in sadness at just the thought of not having a TV in his life, much less not knowing what it was. "Don't know how he survived." he added with a small shake of his head.

"Quiet easily if you asked me, because without knowing what electronics are, he could better fit his days with doing something actually physical." Erza said with a small smile. Loke shook his head once more as he drank the remainder of his orange juice, getting up and going to the fridge to refill his glass once more seeing as his eggs were almost ready.

Everyone was too busy with doing things to occupy there time to notice the pink haired teen silently slink into the room with Erza's cellphone clenched tightly in both of his hands, his multicolored eyes frantically looking around the room as he made his way silently and unnoticed to Erza who had her back to him, almost finished making Loke's eggs.

A small tap on Erza's shoulder made her turn around in surprise, only to see that Natsu was standing in front of her with her red cellphone clenched tightly in both hands.

"Yes, Natsu?" she asked him politely, earning the attention from her friends who caught sight of the rosy haired teen. Wordlessly, he held her phone out in front of him for her to take, his multicolored eyes deeming the floor a safe place to look, but found that the smell of eggs, something foreign to him, was too alluring to not to look at. Erza took her phone gently from his hands and set it on the counter. "Thank you Natsu." she said before noticing where he was looking. She smiled slightly to herself as she took the pan off the burner before the eggs burnt and moved towards Loke to scrape them off onto his plate where he happily started to eat them. "Would you like some eggs?" she asked him as she moved back to the stove and cracked two more eggs into the hot and greasy pan.

"Eggs…?" Natsu asked curiously as he peered at the pain where the sizzling yolk lay, curious as he looked back at Erza for conformation. She nodded and hummed in reply.

"Yup, these are eggs. Would you like some?" she patiently asked him again. Natsu looked at the eggs again and suddenly found himself starving, not remembering the last time he has eaten and nodded his head enthusiastically, making Erza giggle softly to herself. "Alright, why don't you take a seat at the table as you wait for yours?" she suggested with a quick glance in the teens direction, seeing the hesitancy in his eyes as he glanced over to her three other friends who occupied it. Lucy perked up, seeing this as her opportunity to join in.

"Yeah, there's plenty of room here and Loke can get you a glass of orange juice too, if you like." she said happily, scooting out the empty chair by her side for the rosy haired teen to take. Loke looked up at hearing his name, an eyebrow raised.

"I will?" he asked confused. Lucy looked to him and smiled as she nodded, a dangerous gleam in her eyes that seemed to promise pain if Loke didn't fulfill the task. He quickly shot out of his chair as a shiver of fear ran down his spine. "I will!" he shouted nervously as he went to go do what the blonde ordered. Natsu chewed on his bottom lip as he played with the fringe of the large hoodie he wore, making his way slowly to the open seat, his eyes glancing nervously at Lucy and the empty seat.

By the time he had sat down, Loke had poured a glass of orange juice and set it in front of him before he took his seat once more. Natsu looked at the foreign liquid, never having seeing it in his life, only ever drinking water that was sometimes in itself not the cleanest thing to drink. Lucy finished the last of her eggs as she looked at Natsu with some curiosity.

"So, Natsu," she started taking the attention away from the glass of orange juice to her. "We were going to go swimming today and would like to know if you would like to join us?" she asked, watching as he tilted his head to the side, scrunched up his eyebrows and squinted as he thought about the word.

"Swimming…" he mumbled to himself, finding the word faintly recognizable and having a faint idea about what the word meant. It had something to do with water, but what it was about, he had forgotten. He seemed to have forgotten a lot lately though, but it seems like none of it was important for him to remember it in the first place anyway.

"Hmmhuh." Lucy hummed. "Would you like to join us? We can teach you if you like?" she invited again, patiently awaiting his answer as Erza moved from the pan to scrape eggs onto Gray's plate and move back to the stove to start his.

"Does swimming involve Natsu-chan drinking water?" Natsu asked curiously, his voice soft so he wasn't too loud. Gray and Loke chuckled a little at hearing this, but otherwise didn't intrude on the conversation, only listening in with little curiosity.

"You could say so." Lucy said with a grin as Natsu looked at her curiously with his multicolored eyes.


	7. Stray Waters

**Hiya! Sorry for the little wait and all, but here's a new chapter! I am now recently trying to make my chapters long and all, so they might progressively get longer or something along that line or just stay these length depending on how I write them, so yeah! Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Stray Waters**_

_"That?" a small finger pointed towards a picture in a book._

"_Swimming. It's called swimming." A small head tilted in confused, dull multicolored eyes squinting._

"_Swameng?" Confusion, a voice so drawn out from the world, but yet so small and vulnerable, so out of place._

"_Swi-mm-ing. Swimming." A correction came from lips of something cruel and evil, so drawn to his experiments that it doesn't matter what it is making him nothing like a human, more of a monster that creates for its own benefits._

"_Swa-m-eng. Swameng." So tiny, so detached, so young, so broken and nothing of what it once was._

"_Don't worry, we'll get the name correctly soon." A brush off, it's not really important, but really, it is._

"_What is?" the focus of the picture is back in mind, a small finger pointing it out once more, a finger with nails chewed to the brim from hours of sitting in a locked cage with nothing to do but sit, fingers that are cracked with blood for it wasn't known when to stop chewing or that clawing fingers against the metal of the bottom of the cage till the skin was pulled back and became raw and bloody, it wasn't known that one shouldn't do those things._

"_People swim in large bodies of water with nothing supporting them from underneath, nothing but water. They flail their arms and legs in a certain way to keep them from sinking and dying." It was simple, children were supposed to know something as simple as this, but the small figure only new complicated math equations and scientific chemicals along with how to build such complicated machines in such a short time period and how to disable them again. Swimming was foreign, swimming was new, it was nothing like the equations, chemicals, or machines that he knew of. Swimming was weird._

"_Swink? Die?" a tilt of the head, pink fringe falling in eyes that were meant to be the same color, but not only can science create, it can destroy._

"_Yes, but you don't need to know anything about swimming. You need to know more about bombs and how to create massive ones from scratch in less than ten minutes." Eyes of two separate colors looked down at the picture, mind instantly sweeping it away into an abyss where it was now barely recognizable and known that it wasn't important. Something new replaced it, something supposed to be important. Building such a complicated thing that was to make a massive explosion, and to build it in less than ten minutes. _

_It was wrong, but it was life._

_Standing next to a small detached boy with mismatched eyes and unnatural pink hair, stood a monster with a white lab coat and black hair and red eyes. _

_Next to the boy stood someone who should never be._

* * *

The water glittered and shimmered under the early afternoon light, lapping softly onto the bank lazily, no importance drawn to the day before it. Natsu stood in front of it, eyes squinting in the sun light.

He knew of the horrid light that came from outside, he was forced to see it having to come out here for something to drink on some days if he remembered correctly, but he was never fond of it since it pierced his eyes in such an unforgiving way, it made him loath it. But today, it seemed he would have to become used to the big yellow circle in the sky that he hated so much.

That wasn't the only thing.

He was forced to wear this weird shorts-type thing made from weird material and was a dark blue and a little big on him, but held together at the last minute by some rope. His chest was bare and so were his arms and legs showing his many forgotten scars from years and years ago, a bit distorted on his body from age and growth.

Next to him he barely heard the buzzing conversation of that blonde girl taking with the red girl, their names coming briefly to mind before vanishing again: Lucy and Erza. A little behind them and sitting down on the nice lush green summer grass was the raven boy and ginger boy: Gray and Loke. Each of them were having their own conversations leaving Natsu staring at the water with confusion.

A soft breeze blew past, ruffling soft pink hair gently, blowing some strands into mismatched eyes.

He felt very uncomfortable at the moment, his body drawling in on itself making him shuffle his feet nervously and chew his bottom lip in between his top and bottom teeth as he quickly glanced to his right where the blonde and red were talking to each other, discussing something he really didn't care to hear at the moment.

Their attention were drawn so much to their conversation that they didn't notice him looking at them, so he turned to looked over at raven and ginger behind him, both mumbling conversations together lazily as ginger plunked the lush green summer grass out of the ground before tossing them gently away and repeating the process.

Poor grass.

They didn't notice him.

He turned back to face the water in front of him, feeling a little feeling of disappointment settle in his chest before a decision came to mind.

He walked forward slowly and unsure of himself until he felt the smooth warm waters start to lap at his feet lazily, tickling him a bit as he continued, neither of the four noticing or paying mind to what he was doing.

When the water began to reach his waist, he lifted his arms to hover above it, not wanting them to be wet just yet as he continued.

Then something so sudden happened.

The water was barely above his waist when he had taken a step only there to be nothing underneath his foot, plunging him into the waters below with a loud yelp of surprised.

He squeezed his eyes closed tightly as he sunk, water inclosing around him and entering his opened mouth making him loose his breath, his chest tightening uncomfortable.

He barely noticed the splashing sounds as they came closer to him with arms reaching under his arms and gripped him tight, dragging him back above the water.

When he broke the surface where air greeted him happily, his hair stuck to his forehead and the side of his face as he coughed, water spluttering from his mouth as his lungs were desperate to get air. He wasn't paying any attention to whoever was dragging him back to land until he was forcibly forced to sit on his rump.

"Are you _crazy?!_" a voice shouted, the voice coming from the raven: Gray.

Natsu cracked open an eye to look at him, bright green looking into alarmed midnight blue. Still spluttering, Natsu recoiled from him, not liking the angry tone he used, not liking it at all.

"What were you _doing?!_" he continued on, blonde trying to butt in calmly, but Gray would not allow it. "You could've _drowned _and _died _and we would have to haul your body back up from the bottom of the fucking lake!" Tears stung at the corner of Natsu's eyes, lips wobbling. He decided right then and there, he didn't like being yelled at, he didn't like it at all. "You have to be careful swimming in lakes you know! The ground underneath you can suddenly drop off to a hundred feet without you knowing! That's especially dangerous for people like you who can't swim!" By now, tears were streaming down Natsu's face as he looked up at Gray, trying to repress his sobs.

"Gray! That's enough! I'm pretty sure Natsu has had a pretty big scare just now and yelling at him won't do any good!" red (: Erza) told Gray. He turned to her, his midnight blue eyes alight with anger.

"Well, he gave me a pretty good scare, too! One second he's just standing there and the next I hear him scream with a splash and he's nowhere to be seen!" he countered, Erza looking up at him with even more anger in her eyes.

"Yes, I know, it scared all of us, but you can't just go screaming at him! He's like a child! He's learned his lesson probably and he most likely won't do it again!" Guilt suddenly slammed in on Natsu, making the tears fall faster down his face and his throat clench with sobs.

"N-Natsu-c-chan s-s-s-s-sor-ry!" Natsu sobbed loudly, surprising everyone.

"Oh, Natsu…" blonde (: Lucy) cooed apologetically as she leaned down and rubbed his back in soothing circles. "It's okay, there's nothing to be afraid of. Gray's not really angry, he was just worried, that's all." her voice was soft and warm, making Natsu lean towards it even more. "You just gave us a scare. You should've at least told us what you were going to do before you went to do that. We would have teach you how to swim properly." Natsu brought up his hands to his eyes and started desperately to try and wipe away the tears that fell, though more came with them.

"N-Natsu-chan just wanted to see w-what's in the middle! Natsu-chan di-didn't wanna bother!" He drew his legs up to his chest, his sobs coming in harder and rougher, leaving him breathless and gasping for more breath only for it to leave him.

"Oh, come on, why don't we get you out of that and into something else, I bet you've had enough today." Lucy said softly, offering him a slight smile. "Loke, why don't you help me get him back to the house then you can help him change into something." Ginger (: Loke) nodded in agreement, wanting to get away from here fast seeing the great tension developing between Gray and Erza.

He walked towards the two, gently took Natsu's forearm and helped Lucy stand him up as they walked back towards the house.

Erza and Gray were then left alone at the lake side, each glaring at each other in separate anger.

"There was no need to scream at him." the red haired girl spat, crossing her arms over her chest. Gray narrowed his eyes at her, muscles tensing with anger.

"Oh, yeah? Well, there was no need to him to suddenly do that without us paying attention!" he shouted back, arms flying about him as if to emphasize the worry and anger he had went through. "We've only really known him for a day, actually, less than that, and just yesterday he had tried to kill us! But seeing the way he is now, he's like a five-year-old stuck in a teen's body and I just can't help but to worry about the kid who had tried to kill us just 24 hours earlier!" Gray expressed, running a hand through his wet hair that had clung to his forehead annoyingly.

"Yes, I know. Everyone feels the same way pretty much, but that doesn't mean you scream at him! He's not only basically a child, but he also has a…" she trailed off, eyes closing as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, taking a second then looking up at Gray with her brown eyes. "He's mentality is most likely out of whack. He doesn't remember everything after that reversal shot-thingy and he's been alone for the majority of his life, it's a miracle he didn't just starve himself in the first year! And you screaming at him certainly does nothing for his already ruined state of mind. To him, he just went through something traumatic, probably not even fully understanding what's going on and you screaming is most likely confusing him!" Erza said, trying her best not to raise her voice as she got her point across.

There was a few moments of silence as the two looked at each other until Erza spoke once more.

"Look, how 'bout you get dressed and go into town, buy a few pairs of clothing that would better fit Natsu and just walk around to clear your thoughts, okay? I'll even give you the money, just try and be back before dinner?" she looked up at him with her eyebrows arched in question, Gray no longer looking at her as he nodded his head softly before walking back towards the house, leaving Erza behind.

* * *

Lucy and Loke had finally managed to calm Natsu down once they got back to the house and got him changed back into the clothing he had borrowed from Gray the night before and around ten minutes later, he was sleeping peacefully on his bed.

When they saw that the pinkette was most likely not going to wake up, they walked quietly down stairs and sat at the kitchen table, saying nothing as they waited for both Gray and Erza to come back up from the lake where they were most likely arguing their angry little hearts out at each other.

"Well, he most likely won't want to swim ever again after today." Loke said, trying his best to lighten the situation and start a small conversation with Lucy as they waited. Lucy nodded her agreement, not looking up from the table top.

"That's for sure." she replied with a short laugh that didn't exactly have humor in it. Lucy looked up at Loke with her eyebrows furrowed together. "Gray was a little scary though, don't you think?" she asked, her lips pursing in thought. Loke shrugged.

"You should see him when he gets in fights at school." he told her with a little smile, still attempting at the humor even though he kinda knew it was pointless seeing as Lucy wasn't wanting to be humored in any way at the moment, but you can't blame a guy for trying. "He's like freakin' Godzilla, but even scarier than that. You're lucky you've never seen him in a fight, it makes you think _you're _the one he's fighting and not the guys getting the bruises and bloodied lips." he gave a little laugh just as Gray burst through the back door near them, surprising the both of them and causing them to jump in their seats and whirl around to face him. They didn't get much of a glimpse of him because as soon as he entered, he was gone once more.

"Gee, is that what he looks like when he fights?" Lucy whispered, sounding out of breath with wide brown eyes, Loke narrowing his eyes at the place where his best friend had disappeared.

"A bit yeah."

* * *

Gray had only driven through the small town only once before and that was yesterday, so finding a place where he could buy Natsu a few pairs of clothing was a bit hard, but he did eventually find a small little place a bought a red hoodie, a few orange, blue, and grey shirts along with one black muscle shirt, sweat pants, cargo shorts, and regular jeans along with a few pairs of underwear knowing the kid would need some his own size. He didn't even attempt to buy him shoes seeing as he only had enough money for the stuff he already picked out and he didn't know the kid's shoes size, hell, he kinda guess what size the kid wore, only going a size down from his own just to be safe.

After that was done he put the stuff away in the car and decided to do what Erza had suggested him to do, walk around and clear his head before he headed back before dinner.

He knew he shouldn't of yelled at Natsu, but that's what he does when he's worried and doesn't know how else to express his emotions. He falls back on yelling and sometimes he just shouldn't do that because in the end, he always ends up kicking himself with guilt. He knew he was going to apologize to the kid once he gets back and at least try to make it up to him, though he doesn't know how he'll do it. He doesn't even know what the kid likes, and he sure as hell knows the kid doesn't even know what he himself likes.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he did, but stopped right in his tracks when he heard soft meowing noises coming from the alley he had just passed. Blinking, he walked backwards and glanced into the alley, but he eyes didn't find anything out of the usual so he was about to walk away once more when he heard the soft meow of a kitten once more.

Curious, he stepped in the alley and kept on going attentively, stopping when he heard the meow once more, though right beside him.

Looking down he saw a little kitten that was most likely a stray. He had the most unusual fur Gray had ever seen on cats, knowing that they probably weren't supposed to have since it was blue with little white patches on his chest and the tip of his tail, but brushed it aside when he saw the kitten's large pleading eyes look up at him, making his heart clench in his chest and turn to goo.

It was then that Gray had the most brilliant idea as he bent in front of the small kitten and held his hand in front of him to show he wasn't any harm, the blue kitten sniffing it then pushing it on top of its head for Gray to start petting it.

The little creature reminded him of someone else he had recently met and that was what gave him the idea.

Smiling, he picked up the blue kitten and cradled it close to his chest.

"Hello there, wanna come home with me? There's someone I want you to meet."


	8. Throwing Rocks at Loke

**Hiya! Sorry for the wait! I tried to update sooner but it didn't go as planned! So I tried to make this chapter to your amusement and I hoped it worked! Anyway, sorry once more and I'll try to update faster! Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Throwing Rocks at Loke**_

The attic seemed cold to him, but he didn't seem to care as he sat in the middle of the darkened space. Multicolored eyes scanned the room, sometimes stopping at familiar objects and recalling wisps of memories that would surface only to flutter away from his consciousness again.

A few moments looking at the dog cage: _a pink haired little boy picked at the lock with a stray nail and piece of glass he had taken, the lock opening within moments of starting, a triumphant smile._

A heartbeat of a second his eyes looked at the operating-like table: _a man stood with black hair and needles, the pink haired boy being strapped to the table as he murmured silently to himself._

Barely a look to the file cabinet: _The man takes out files and hands them to the pink haired boy who glances at them and already knows the content without ever actually reading or seeing the file before in his life. _

The room was full with memories his mind seemed to not want to hold onto, but he didn't care. It didn't matter at all, because memories don't seem all that important to him anyway. They were in the past, and he no longer lived in the past, he never did. He was living in right now, he rather stay in the present than live in the past, and having memories of things he couldn't remember correctly didn't seem like they mattered to much to him anyway. Living in the now though, mattered the most.

He was brought out of his runaway thoughts when he heard faint yelling downstairs, his eyes flickering to the attic door for a few brief moments before he deemed it not important to him and resumed his random looking about of the room. When the yelling didn't cease, he began to grow curious, but did nothing to satisfy his curiosity. He briefly remembered the blonde—Lucy—saying something about "Curiosity killed the cat," but then again the ginger—Loke—followed with "But satisfaction brought it back." He didn't know what any of that really meant, but he figured it had something about cat's being curious (he barely even knew what a cat was in the first place, so that made the whole thing even more confusing to him than what it should be) and the curiosity killing whatever it was, only for some reason satisfaction to bring it back. Just thinking about it made his head hurt and the yelling to get closer to him.

"Natsu!" Oh, they were calling for him the whole time.

"Where is he?" he heard the voice of the red head—Erza—ask in exasperation. A soft sigh.

"Don't know. He disappears randomly, doesn't he?" The blonde, Lucy, said.

"Well, wherever he is, he better hurry up. This cat doesn't want to be held much longer." That voice belonged to the raven—Gray. Gray scared him. He yelled at him and made him cry. He made him feel guilty and he didn't like that. Gray was scary, he wasn't sure he liked him very much. But, wait. He said something about a cat. Why would scary Gray have a cat? Was the cat curious and died only for that thing called satisfaction to bring it back? But, then why would Gray keep it? What even _was _a cat in the first place?

The questions flew about his head at a mile-per-minute that he didn't hear the voices get closer until they were in front of the door. When they were closer than before, he snapped out of his mussing and quickly ran to a small crevice in the attic he often hid in, his feet light and barely even making a noise on the old wooden floor. He peered back at the door from the darkness of the crevice as it opened to reveal the people who he just met yesterday.

"Maybe he's in here?" Loke asked as he surveyed the room, only to furrow his eyebrows up in confusion. "Or maybe not." He scratched his ginger hair as the others looked over his shoulder. "Where could that guy go? We searched literally everywhere! Where else would he hide?" Lucy looked up at him in amusement.

"He has lived in this house his whole life, he might've found a hiding place or something along the way." she mused. She placed a hand on her hip and looked around. "I guess we have to wait for him to come out on his own." She looked over at Gray who was struggling with holding the cat. "You can let it go, you know. Let it wonder." Gray sighed and set the blue cat down begrudgingly.

"I guess, I kinda wanted to see the look on his face though." he muttered in disappointment as they left, forgetting to close the door. Natsu stayed where he was, watching them with his multicolored eyes until he heard a soft noise in front of him, startling him and making him fall backwards as he stared at the blue creature before him. It was small and had a long tail with eyes that seemed to radiate happiness.

Natsu didn't know what to think of it as it rubbed itself against his leg and made a strange rumbling noise from its throat, but he stayed still and watched it carefully. When he deemed whatever it was safe, he sat up and cautiously put his hand out in front of him, the creature sniffing it with a tiny wet nose only to push his hand on top of its head and looking up at him expectantly. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not knowing what it wanted, taking his hand away only to be met with a disappointed noise coming from it so he raised it again and placed it on top of its head, the creature now rubbing against it. Somewhat understanding what it wanted, he started to stroke the fur, the creature lying down and making the weird rumbling sound again.

"What's your name?" he asked it, but the creature didn't even look up at him, only curling against his leg as he continued to stroke it. "Can you speak?" Nothing but the rumbling sound. "Okay. My name's Natsu-chan. What should I call you?" Nothing. "Should I choose to call you something?" Still nothing. "Okay, Natsu-chan will call you Happy, do you like that?" The creature blinked up at him, but didn't look like it was complaining. "You seem happy and I never got to choose what to call something before."

He smiled childishly. "Ne, Happy-chan, what are you?" Happy closed his eyes, not responding to Natsu and making him pout. "Fine, I'll ask the blonde… Lucy…" He hesitated on saying her name, but shook his head as he stood up, walking silently to the open door. He turned around to see that the creature wasn't following, furrowing his eyebrows once more. "Well, come on Happy-chan, Natsu-chan wants to see what you are." The creature didn't move, making Natsu frown and walk over to it. "Do your legs not work?" No answer. "Are they broken?" Nada. "Would you like Natsu-chan to carry you?" Zip. "Okay, I'll carry you." The pinkette bent down at the waist and gently picked up the small creature, putting it on top of his head where it curled up and went to sleep. Natsu gave a small triumphant smile as he then began to walk to where he guessed the strange group of people were: the kitchen.

He silently made his way downstairs, but instead of hearing them from where he expected them to be, he heard them in the sitting room talking, so he made his way to their voices, standing silently in the door way.

"I can't believe it's raining!" Lucy whined as she let her head fall on the back of her chair, groaning loudly. Erza rolled her eyes at her friend, finding her boredom amusing.

"We could always play a board game, you know? I brought a few." Gray perked up.

"Like what?"

"Candy Land, Scrabble, Mouse Trap, Monopoly—" Gray cut her off instantly.

"And ruin our friendship? No, thank you. Last time I played that Monopoly I ended up breaking up with my girlfriend and not talking to my brother for two months." he said, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back. Erza glared at him, Gray trying his best to ignore it.

"Hey, how 'bout we calm down before Erza kills us? Okay?" Loke reasoned, only to pause as he caught sight of Natsu standing there silently in the doorway with Happy on top of his head.

"Oh, Natsu! There you are! I can also see you found the cat." he smiled, Natsu walking shyly into the room with a few steps, but remained standing. Everyone perked up at hearing this, looking towards the multi-colored eyed teen, curiously.

"Cat?" he asked, tilting his head. "This is Happy." He pointed towards the blue creature on top of his head that slept peacefully on the pink locks. Erza looked confused.

"No… that's a cat…"

"No, this is Happy."

"A cat…"

"Happy."

"Cat."

"Happy."

"Natsu, what is on your head at this very moment in time, is in fact a full blooded, if not, weird colored cat." Natsu shook his head.

"No, this is Happy." Erza sighed in frustration, giving up as she threw her hands up in the air and leaned back, giving the teen a glare.

"Fine, that's Happy." she resigned, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she did so.

"I found him," Gray cut in, Natsu's attention going to him as the raven looked proud of himself. "He was all alone meowing in a cold alleyway until I found him!" He jutted out his chin and chest, a small proud smirk on his face as he awaited Natsu's reaction and undying thanks.

"He also got you some new clothing Nat," Lucy perked up, holding up a bag full of clothes. Natsu tilted his head at the new name, eyebrows furrowing together as he mouthed the nickname to himself a few times before he voiced it.

"Nat?" he voiced in uncertainty. Lucy laughed a little, eyes crinkling up at the ends in mirth.

"Yeah, Nat." she said in amusement. "A shorter version of your name. Do you like it?" Lucy asked. Natsu continued mouthing the nickname silently, eyebrows furrowed and multi-colored eyes concentrated fully on it before he shrugged, actually somewhat pleased with the name, but he seemed too shy to admit it as he looked away with a small blush. Loke took this as his cue to stand up and grab the bag full of cloths and thrust them into Natsu's arms, Happy almost falling off his head as he did so.

"Anyway, why don't you go change, huh? It might be a little more comfortable getting to wear something that fits and all instead of Gray's smelly and baggy clothes." Loke suggested, turning Natsu around abruptly and pushing him out to the nearest bathroom before the young teen could protest. "And Daddy Loke can help you if Baby Natsu can't figure out how to put his shirt on. And if you're extra nice, maybe Mommy Lucy can make you some cookies so me and Mommy Lucy can have some fun-fun time." Loke looked over his shoulder at Lucy, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, only to get a face full of a hard fancy pillow, well, make that a face full of _two _hard fancy pillows.

"Not even in your dreams you perv!" she shouted after them, face red in embarrassment as Gray and Erza tried to stifle their laughter behind their hands. Lucy leaned back with a 'humph' and crossed her arms in front of her, cheeks still red as a tomato as Loke and Natsu turned the corner.

"So," Erza started, quick to change the subject. "Natsu seems to like Happy a lot, wouldn't you say so yourself, Gray?" the scarlet haired teen turned to face him as his proud smirk came once again.

"Of course he does. I mean, he got it from me! Who wouldn't want a cat from me?" he asked sarcastically.

"If you gave a cat to Juvia, she would think it's a marriage proposal." Lucy commented, the proud smirk instantly dropping from Gray's face at the mention of his stalker.

"Remind me to never give her anything, not even a pencil." he muttered under his breath as the girls both shared a short laugh at his annoyance.

"Natsu! You don't put your head threw the arm hole! No! That's the _other _arm hole! It's the middle hole! _Natsu!" _They instantly stopped talking as they heard Loke's scream and a few whines from Natsu along with two thumps and an '_ow!_'

"Geez, what's going on in there?" Gray asked.

"Natsu, you don't drape the shirt on your head and call it good! You _actually _put it on for Christ's sake! No, no! No! You poor child, shorts aren't substitutes for shirts when we get frustrated because they only have _two _holes, not one. _THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU TRY TO RIP ANOTHER WHOLE IN THEM! NATSU FOR HEAVENS SAKE JUST SIT DOWN FOR A MOMENT AND—YOUR HEAD WON'T GO THROUGH LIKE THAT! CHILD, CALM! CALM YO FACE CHILD AND LET ME DO THIS! NATSU!" _Gray blinked at the continued screaming, standing up.

"I'm just… I'm just gunna go help them..." he said awkwardly, only to freeze from more loud childish whines from Natsu and screaming from Loke.

"_CHILD, WHEN WE CAN'T PUT SHIRTS ON OR SHORTS OVER OUR HEAD, WHICH THEY DO NOT BELONG, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT UNDERWEAR IS A SHIRT EITHER! NO—NATSU GET BACK HERE! YOU ONLY HAVE YOUR UNDERWEAR ON! NATSU YOU INSOLENT CHILD! GET BACK HERE!" _Loke screeched followed by a slamming door and running of feet as the two entered the room the three occupied, Natsu running away from Loke in just his underpants as the ginger teen was holding out one of the shirts Gray got Natsu with frustration on his face. "_GODDAMIT CHILD! GET YOUR PINK HAIRED ASS OVER HERE! NO! DON'T JUMP OUT THE WINDOW—HE FUCKING JUMPED OUT THE WINDOW!_" Gray, Erza, and Lucy could only watch in shock as Natsu proceeded to punch the living room window, spreading shards of glass everywhere, and _proceed to jump out of it._ "_CHILD!_" Loke continued to yell as he jumped out the same window and chased Natsu in the raining yard. After a few moments of hearing distant yelling and distant whining yelling, Happy walked on in with a confused look on his cat features.

"Um… Why is it so difficult getting him into clothing now then it was earlier?" Lucy asked as the three of them migrated to the broken window to watch Natsu and Loke running through the yard as it rained on them harshly.

"That, Lucy, is a question only God can answer now." Erza replied, all three wincing when Natsu had started to pick up rocks and throw them at Loke, one landing painfully on his foot.

"I'll go get the ice." Gray muttered sympathetically, turning around to fetch said item.

"While you're at it, get some Advil!" Lucy called after a rock hit Loke on the forehead and he fell, only to get up a second later with his screaming at a new and higher octave.

* * *

**~An Hour and a Few Advil Later~**

"So, what you're telling me, _you're telling me _that all I had to do to get him to put on his shirt was to bribe him with Erza's phone? That's all?" Loke asked with only one eye opened as he had an icepack over his eyebrow on his right eye. In front of him clad in an orange shirt with a yellow smiley face sticking out its tongue and winking along with cargo shorts was said teen that had thrown rocks at him not only thirty minutes earlier. He was so engrossed in the red cell phone before him, playing a game Erza had set on it with rapt attention as Happy dozed off on his lap that he didn't even hear the conversation going on around him.

"Well, he seemed so into it this morning, so it kinda looked like the best thing to bribe him with." Lucy said with a shrug as she dabbed with a cotton ball at the few cuts on Loke with alcohol, the ginger wincing in pain with each dab.

"Now we know how to get him to do stuff in the future without having him throw rocks at us like Fred Flintstone." Gray commented as he sat down with a glass of apple juice, giving another to Natsu who didn't seem to notice.

"We still need to get him some shoes." Erza muttered as she watched the multi-colored eyes flicker constantly as he played his game. "We'll have to bring him into town tomorrow to have him sized." she commented, Loke's eyes widening.

"And have the kid throw rocks at everyone who tries to put a shoe on his feet? I'll like to _not_ go to jail, thank you very much!" he huffed, Lucy rolling her eyes at him.

"Have him play on Erza's phone the whole time and he won't care." she said as she finished dabbing at the last cut and started to apply the Hello Kitty Band-Aids. "While we're out we can also go out and have some lunch, maybe go to the mall and show the kid the real world." She froze, a Band-Aid a milliliter away from Loke's skin. "I wonder how he'll act in public." she said as she placed it on firmly.

"That would be something to watch, wouldn't it?" Gray commented with a lazy grin.

"You got that right, but let's please make sure there are no rocks within the next twenty mile radius of the kid, I'm already battered up enough as it is." Loke groaned as Lucy placed the finishing Hello Kitty Band-Aid on him, Loke setting his arms on the table and resting his head in them.

"You got that right." Gray huffed with amusement.


	9. Cafe

**Hiya! Once again I apologize for the long wait but it was partially because I couldn't find inspiration for the chapter and laziness. But hey! I found some inspiration and I now know what to do for the next chap! A win win! It's like killing a bird with two stones! I think that's how the saying goes, dunno. I think I'm right and that's how it is. Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed last chapter! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!**

**-Let there be midnight**

**Me No Own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**The Attic's Little Secret—**

_**Café **_

As they walked through the town, Natsu hid behind Erza looking everywhere with big mismatched eyes in curiosity. Erza didn't seem to mind the other hiding behind her and took liberty of telling Natsu everything that made him yelp and jump in fear. Lucy, Gray, and Loke didn't blame Natsu for choosing Erza to hide behind since she was a good choice seeing as she was a scary, scary female.

They had tried to get Natsu some shoes earlier but he ended up hiding behind a large shoe display and when Lucy and Loke were tried to get near him to drag him out, he knocked the shoes over and then proceeded with throwing random shoe boxes at them. The only shoes they could actually get him to wear were cheap three dollar flip-flops that were power ranger pattern.

Now they were trying to show Natsu civilization and had given him a choice to choose where they should eat. That was well over an hour ago.

"Natsuuu," Loke groaned, throwing his head forward. "Just pick a place!" Natsu looked over his shoulder at the ginger before randomly pointing at a shop that just happened to be a small family owned café.

"Well, the kid got some luck in him, that's for sure." Gray muttered as they walked over to the small café. Nobody reacted when they walked through the door and the bell sounded above them, making Natsu jump in surprise and clung further onto Erza who barely reacted to Natsu jerking her around slightly.

"Good afternoon!" a waitress beamed from the front glass counter as she wiped down the glass before picking up five menus and walking around to stand in front of them. The waitress was pretty with long wavy white blonde hair that looked more white then blonde, or was most likely bleached. Her bangs were held up in a small bow so the hair was out of her big clear blue eyes that seemed to twinkle happily. She wore a light pink blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a few buttons undone at the top showing a generous amount of her cleavage along with a white and yellow pleated skirt and white flats. A sky blue waist apron was tied securely around her hips and on her wrist was an old ratty pink and yellow friendship bracelet with a little blue butterfly dangling from it. "Where would you like to sit? Outside, or in here?" she asked. Erza looked around the empty café and decided on a seat at the far corner of the room but was still next to a window.

"Over there will be nice." Erza said, pointing to her desired seat. The waitress grinned at them without showing her teeth and led them over, setting the menus down in front of each seat.

"I'm Mirajane, but you can just call me Mira. If you need anything just wave me down." she said as she went back up front.

Loke had managed to pry Natsu away from behind his shield and sit him down in the seat next to the window with the best view of the outside so he wouldn't get bored. Loke sat next to him with the girls directly across as Gray pulled up a chair and sat down.

"So, what do you want to drink, Natsu?" Lucy asked, lacing her fingers together and setting her chin in them as she watched Natsu blink at her, then around the store. Sighing quite dramatically, Loke looked towards him.

"What drink do you want?" he asked, pointing out all the drinks on the menu when he got the pinkette's attention. Natsu furrowed his eyebrows together as he looked at the drink menu.

"Li… Lie…" he started, most likely randomly picking a drink since he didn't know any of them.

"Sound it out." Gray said in boredom as he looked down at his menu.

"Lie… Leimo… Liema… Lieman… Liemanaide." Natsu finally finished, looking up towards Gray with such a bright happy smile Gray and no one else at the table had the heart to tell him it was lemonade.

"Eh… close enough." Gray said with a nod, Natsu looking even happier at the praise as he looked down at the menu and started to carefully sound out the foreign words he's never seen before silently and quite wrong since he said piezzea instead of pizza and shuukoolite maise caika instead of chocolate mousse cake.

"So, where shall we go next?" Lucy pondered as she glimpsed at her own menu before instantly knowing what she wanted. "How about we go to the movies?" she suggested.

"No… not yet. I'm afraid the kid would freak out and think everything is real and start throwing poor civilians at the movie screen." Loke said as they all glanced over to Natsu who was oblivious to them talking about him as he continued to happily wrongly sound out the words of the menu.

"Good point…" Lucy trailed off.

"The park?" Erza put out.

"And have him terrorize little kids on the swing set? I rather _not _get sent to juvie, please and thank you." Gray said with a slight exhale of air.

"What about laser tag?" Loke asked only for everyone to give him a deadpanned look.

"No." they said in unison, Loke glaring at each and one of them.

"Is there anywhere we can take him?" Gray asked with a sigh, head thumping against the table.

"My grandpa owns a farm out in the country. It's a long ways away but there are horses and cows he can see." Mira said, scaring the crap out of everyone except Natsu at her sudden appearance.

"What." Loke blinked at her in confusion, Mira only giving him a slight smile before she repeated what she said.

"A few hours down my grandpa has a farm full of whatever farming animal or equipment you can think of. You could take him down there." she said. Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Loke all looked at each other and blinked in unison.

"That's actually… not a bad idea." Gray said as he looked towards Mira. "But how'd you know we were trying to find a place to bring him?" he asked out of curiosity. Mira looked at him in amusement as she put all her weight on one leg and jutted out her opposite hip slightly.

"The place is empty and we don't play music." she said, gesturing around the small café with her pen. "Plus, I love that you guys are helping someone like him!" Her eyes widened and her smile dropped as a pink flush covered her cheeks. "Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I-I just… from what I can gather he has a learning disability, but please tell me if I'm wrong or not!" she said, nervousness and embarrassment clear on her face. Erza gave a little laugh, finding an opening to explain why Natsu is like this without giving everything away.

"His maturity and learning ability isn't up to par, but that doesn't mean he isn't smart." she said. Mira shook her head quickly, looking slightly less embarrassed.

"Of course not!" she agreed. "Anyway, I can take you guys down to the farm in a bit, I don't get off until an hour and thirty minutes from now." she said. "So I can take your order now and by the time you guys are done, we can head out." she said. Erza nodded, smiling.

"That sounds great!"

"Liemanaide!"

* * *

"Is… Is he alright?" Mira asked as she watched Gray and Loke try to drag Natsu into the car, the pinkette screaming and kicking the whole time.

"We just recently learned he really hates cars." Lucy explained as she watched the seen nonchalantly.

"You insolent child! Get in the god damn car!" Loke screamed as he tried to push the teen in.

"Shut up Loke!" Gray shouted back while he tried to pull Natsu inside while he threw a tantrum.

"One minute," Erza said as she gave Mira a sweat smile and walked over to the struggling trio. She took out her phone from her pocket and dangled it in front of Natsu's face who became quiet and stopped struggling once he saw it. "If you be nice and get in the car, I'll let you play on it." she offered, Natsu nodding eagerly as he pushed past Gray and sat down in the seat, reaching out for the phone. Erza handed it to him as Gray rolled his eyes and buckled the teen in.

"So, we'll follow you there, 'kay?" Lucy said, looking at Mira who hesitantly smiled back.

"Sure…"


End file.
